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Digital Skins: History of Clowns

I wanted a deeper understanding of the history of clowns, here is a summary of what I found:

There isn’t documentation that can show how far back the first ever clowns originated from however, ancient clowns did exist – not known as clowns, of course – the word clown not coming into use until the 16th Century.

Ancient Egypt 5000 years ago used to keep African Pygmies known as Dangas in the Royal Courts to amuse the Pharaohs and Royal Families. They dressed in leopard skins and strange masks and danced and imitated the Egyptian Gods, such as Bes – the God of Dance and Battle.

Ancient China had clowns attached to the Imperial Court as long ago as the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 B.C.). One is named as Yu Sze, who was clown to Ch’in Shih Huang-ti, who built the Great Wall of China.

Ancient Greece had clowns who wore short tunics (“chiton”) which were grotesquely padded at the front and rear and knitted socks like tights. He had an exaggerated artificial phallus strapped around his loins (remind you of anyone? – perhaps it was the Ancient Greek equivalent of “medallion man”?).

Ancient Rome had different types of clowns. Sannio were a popular type of mime and they were well known for their ability to pull hilarious grimaces with their faces and body, this clown unlike most others of the time did not wear a mask. Another type of clown was Stupidus (hence our word for stupid) which was Latin for mimic fool.  He was usually bald-headed or wore a long pointed hat and a multi-coloured outfit (surely the predecessor of Harlequin?). This type of clown was usually bald-headed or wore a long pointed hat and a multi-coloured costume (surely the predecessor of Harlequin?). He was famed for his innuendo, riddles and the ability to rain down blows on his fellow performers in burlesque fights in typical slapstick fashion. There was a lower form of clown who was known as Scurra (from whence comes scurrilous) and his act was jesting, his physical oddities setting him apart from his better class colleagues.  There were yet others known as Moriones (moron) whilst the mentally retarded were known as Stulti and Fatui. It was common for the great houses and the courts to “keep” freaks and fools, who on the whole were treated kindly. It was thought by many that they were endowed with special powers from the Gods and were treated as good luck charms.

In Malaya, clowns exist today who are similar to ones who performed thousands of years ago. They are called P’rang and wear huge masks and turbans as big again as themselves.

A well known clown existed in Turkey in about 1440 who, through the ages has become a cult and folk hero, with many coarse and “tall” stories about him. His name was Nasr el-Din who was court jester to Tamburlaine (or Timur) the Mongol Conqueror. Nasr el-Din was famous for his cunning, naivety, buffoonery and shrewdness; he loved to score off other people and play practical jokes.

In particular, there were the Court Jesters. By the 14th Century, the professional funnymen had taken the place of real fools in many Royal households Unlike their predecessors of course, the Jesters could provide humour on demand.

The Jester represented the principle of free speech in an age where such freedom hardly existed for anyone else. Their closeness to the throne gave them considerable power which made them enemies as well as friends in court. 

One of the earliest uses of the word “Clown” occurs in one of Shakespeare’s plays. In the 1700’s, Italian Commedia del’arte al improviso (professional improvised comedy) was imported into this country. In the earliest forms of this entertainment, actors improvised, from a vast memorised storehouse of line-combinations and business, a play along a simple theme.

In 1778, there was born a man who, by his own personality, skill and sheer hard work was to snatch the Harlequinade away from the Harlequin and hand it firmly to the Clown. The man was Joseph Grimaldi and even today, all clowns are nicknamed “Joeys” in honour of Grimaldi. He it was who first did away with the pantomime mask and wore make-up, a practice soon seized upon and copied by his contemporaries.

Prior to this, in 1768, Philip Astley opened his Amphitheatre, the first “circus”. Although Philip Astley has been attributed to inventing “circus”, entertainment in the form of gladiators fighting and other entertainment have been recorded in ancient Rome from 186 B.C. in amphitheatres such as the one shown in Pompeii. Ancient Rome also had ‘clowns’ although they were not known by that name.

The Whiteface clown held sway in the circus for a hundred years, but as we progress into the 20th Century, he became less of the funster, giving way to the cheeky Auguste. The Whiteface Clown’s wit and skill were still important, but now he was content to use them as a foil or straight man to the zany undisciplined knockabout of his bizarre colleague. But another type of whiteface continued to shine: the Mime. He emerged from the commedia dell’arte, pantomime and French clown Perriot. Probably one of the most inspired and famous mimes is Frenchman Marcel Marceau, his clown being named “Bip”. There is such a huge history behind clowns and the evolution of how clowns have adapted to what is happening in society.

Clown History. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2016, from http://www.clownbluey.co.uk/more-info/clown-history

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Hi hi! I saw you do art requests and no pressure ofc, but I would love it if you could draw my designs of the bbs :)) for additional context abt the designs you could check out my fic Green with Grief ^^ art here is by @riceballart and tysm for the opportunity :D

OMGG MY FIRST ART REQUEST YES YES YES ILL DRAW YOUR DESIGNS HEHEHEHHE

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The designs are not mine, they belong to @/titenoute !!

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What do you mean they had a fight?

IG: @wandering.doodles

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yeahh...yeahh... this is what shouldve happened at the end of ep 6

funnybunny nation how we feeling

(im sorru for the shift in style midway, pomni lost her chibi sortof look but its okay!)

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yall aint ready for this....

inspired by ay1chii on insta!!

https://www.instagram.com/ayr1chii?igsh=Z2JqZXFxOXNoZ2Rt

funnybunny pomni jax MANIA. i cant stop. i will abruptly someday but... not now

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finished my Pomni hat, this was the best way for me to show you

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Well… I did it 🍎

These boys deserve to be in this trend too

I love them so much 💔

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i do not remember falling asleep but apparently i did

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Me too girl, me too

Audio is from @..angelfoodcake on TikTok!

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free tadc wallpapers, official 3d renders (except for bubbles), no credit required, enjoy

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They're stunned with love XD

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Ep 6 ‘s writing was so good

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sighing

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Your ass hasn't forgotten about your situationship with ribbit and you want me to believe you wouldn't gaf? LMAOOOO jax you're a bad liar with a very destructive coping mechanism lol